Tweet
This was my first trip to Jamaica and it definitely won't be my last!
Day One - After a long flight from Seattle we finally arrived at the airport in Mo Bay. We made it easily through immigration and headed outside to find our driver. We were bombarded with offers for a ride but luckily my fiancé saw a woman waiting for us with a colorful sign. It was Sienna! Solomon couldn’t make it so Junior was our driver. He packed our stuff into the van and we were off. Sienna was a great guide as we headed towards Negril. This was our first trip to Jamaica and I was amazed by everything I saw…the beautiful blue ocean, lush foliage, lively streets, bridges that only fit one car, and a bunch of other interesting things that I had never seen before. On the way to the hotel we stopped at Hi Lo to pick up some Red Stripe and exchange some travelers checks. By the time we arrived at Idle Awhile it was evening. Wow, what a beautiful place! We checked in and the delightful Prince helped us with our bags. The tree frogs were singing as we were lead down the path through the beautiful garden to our room. The room was awesome! Exactly the type of place we wanted to stay. We were exhausted but at the same time I was excited to go find the beach. We decided to go get some dinner and take a walk along the beach. We stopped at the bar to get our free Rum Punch. Boy did that rum have a punch! It didn’t sit well on my empty stomach and so I was thankful when our dinner finally arrived. After dinner we took a walk along the beach and headed towards the sound of live Reggae. I had been trying to avoid Margaritaville but there was a big bonfire and some good reggae so we decided to have a drink and listen to the music. I ordered my first Dirty Banana. It was so good! On our way back to the hotel as my fiancé held my hand, he asked me to look up…I couldn’t believe how many stars there were in the sky. It was so beautiful. It was the perfect end to the perfect day!
Idle Awhile...
Day Two - I woke up, stepped out onto the verandah and overlooked the lush gardens at Idle Awhile. The hotel and property was everything I had imagined and more. Today was a relaxing day. We walked the beach, swam on the floaties, sat on the beach drinking pina coladas and bought a bunch of reggae CDs from DJ Eddie. We had a nice lobster dinner on a candlelit table set up right on the beach (can’t remember the name of the restaurant) while we listened to some live reggae.
Day Three –We went down to the bar to meet our wedding coordinator Isabelle and Sienna at 10:00am. We chatted for a while and discussed the details of tomorrow’s wedding. After this we were really hungry so went to Best of the West to get some jerk chicken. The chicken wasn’t done yet so we wandered the beach in search of another jerk stand. We ended up eating at Rainbow Arch. Since it was our first trip to Negril we decided to take a Negril orientation trip. Solomon and Tato came to pick us up. Unfortunately Solomon had to leave again to go fix one of his vans. So Tato was our tour guide for the day. We started the tour by driving through the neighborhoods of Negril. The roads were packed with cows, goats, chickens and cute schoolchildren in their uniforms. We got to what appeared to be the end of a road and I was shocked when suddenly the driver accelerated forward and tried to make it up a very steep, rocky hill. The van slid down a few times but we eventually made it. My heart was pounding but once we got to the top I couldn’t believe the view. We could see all of Negril and the Great Morass. It was breathtaking. We continued to wind through the neighborhoods and eventually ended up on the cliffs. We stopped at the lighthouse for a while and then stopped at Pirate’s Cave for a cold drink. Not many people were around but there was one cliff diver that we had the pleasure of watching. On the way back to the beach we stopped at Hi Lo to get some groceries. Tato dropped us at Idle Awhile and we got ready for dinner. We walked down the beach and had dinner at Kuyaba. It was a beautiful, romantic restaurant and the food was excellent. On the way back to the hotel we saw Eddie and bought some more CDs. Back at the hotel we stopped at the bar for a drink and chatted with Carlton, Prince and Robert. This is paradise!
Cliffs...
Day One - After a long flight from Seattle we finally arrived at the airport in Mo Bay. We made it easily through immigration and headed outside to find our driver. We were bombarded with offers for a ride but luckily my fiancé saw a woman waiting for us with a colorful sign. It was Sienna! Solomon couldn’t make it so Junior was our driver. He packed our stuff into the van and we were off. Sienna was a great guide as we headed towards Negril. This was our first trip to Jamaica and I was amazed by everything I saw…the beautiful blue ocean, lush foliage, lively streets, bridges that only fit one car, and a bunch of other interesting things that I had never seen before. On the way to the hotel we stopped at Hi Lo to pick up some Red Stripe and exchange some travelers checks. By the time we arrived at Idle Awhile it was evening. Wow, what a beautiful place! We checked in and the delightful Prince helped us with our bags. The tree frogs were singing as we were lead down the path through the beautiful garden to our room. The room was awesome! Exactly the type of place we wanted to stay. We were exhausted but at the same time I was excited to go find the beach. We decided to go get some dinner and take a walk along the beach. We stopped at the bar to get our free Rum Punch. Boy did that rum have a punch! It didn’t sit well on my empty stomach and so I was thankful when our dinner finally arrived. After dinner we took a walk along the beach and headed towards the sound of live Reggae. I had been trying to avoid Margaritaville but there was a big bonfire and some good reggae so we decided to have a drink and listen to the music. I ordered my first Dirty Banana. It was so good! On our way back to the hotel as my fiancé held my hand, he asked me to look up…I couldn’t believe how many stars there were in the sky. It was so beautiful. It was the perfect end to the perfect day!
Idle Awhile...
Day Two - I woke up, stepped out onto the verandah and overlooked the lush gardens at Idle Awhile. The hotel and property was everything I had imagined and more. Today was a relaxing day. We walked the beach, swam on the floaties, sat on the beach drinking pina coladas and bought a bunch of reggae CDs from DJ Eddie. We had a nice lobster dinner on a candlelit table set up right on the beach (can’t remember the name of the restaurant) while we listened to some live reggae.
Day Three –We went down to the bar to meet our wedding coordinator Isabelle and Sienna at 10:00am. We chatted for a while and discussed the details of tomorrow’s wedding. After this we were really hungry so went to Best of the West to get some jerk chicken. The chicken wasn’t done yet so we wandered the beach in search of another jerk stand. We ended up eating at Rainbow Arch. Since it was our first trip to Negril we decided to take a Negril orientation trip. Solomon and Tato came to pick us up. Unfortunately Solomon had to leave again to go fix one of his vans. So Tato was our tour guide for the day. We started the tour by driving through the neighborhoods of Negril. The roads were packed with cows, goats, chickens and cute schoolchildren in their uniforms. We got to what appeared to be the end of a road and I was shocked when suddenly the driver accelerated forward and tried to make it up a very steep, rocky hill. The van slid down a few times but we eventually made it. My heart was pounding but once we got to the top I couldn’t believe the view. We could see all of Negril and the Great Morass. It was breathtaking. We continued to wind through the neighborhoods and eventually ended up on the cliffs. We stopped at the lighthouse for a while and then stopped at Pirate’s Cave for a cold drink. Not many people were around but there was one cliff diver that we had the pleasure of watching. On the way back to the beach we stopped at Hi Lo to get some groceries. Tato dropped us at Idle Awhile and we got ready for dinner. We walked down the beach and had dinner at Kuyaba. It was a beautiful, romantic restaurant and the food was excellent. On the way back to the hotel we saw Eddie and bought some more CDs. Back at the hotel we stopped at the bar for a drink and chatted with Carlton, Prince and Robert. This is paradise!
Cliffs...
Comment